While for the longest time, the Indian media followed an untold – and mutually beneficial – code of not speaking against each other, the gloves are well and truly off now. Arguably, it all began in 2010, when the The Indian Express carried a front-page “exclusive” on The Hindu. Provocatively headlined, the story talked about a “bitter battle that had broken out among family members for control” of the newspaper. Then in 2012, The Times of India and The Hindu came up with a series of ads, taking potshots at each other. More recently, Hindustan Times and TOI were engaged in a bitter battle to assert supremacy over each other as the largest selling newspaper in Delhi. The face-offs, though, have not always been institutional.

Now, the fact that columnist Swapan Dasgupta and The Caravan’s Political Editor, Hartosh Singh Bal are not chaddi buddies is as much of a secret as Dasgupta’s political leanings. On April 8, though, their lack of love for each other was on public display. In the country’s most well-known kangaroo court, also called the Newshour, Bal and Dasgupta had a much talked-about face-off. The subject of the debate/discussion/shouting match was General VK Singh’s “presstitute” comment. Bal, talking about journalism in general, said everyone in an editorial position should disclose his or her bank details and income sources. While it didn’t seem like Bal was taking a jibe at Dasgupta, the latter took it personally, warning Bal to not question his integrity. Obviously, that made Bal go at Dasgupta even harder.

For the record, Dasgupta, earlier in the year, had been appointed on the board of Larsen and Toubro as a nominee of the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India.

Not much has changed in the world since. We are still called presstitutes, Newshour is as loud, and, of course, Bal’s opinion of Dasgupta is still as low as Newslaundry’s page views.

So, when, Dasgupta was invited to be part of a panel discussion to promote a collection of essays on Jawaharlal Nehru, in which Bal is a contributor, Bal wasn’t impressed. He wrote to the publishers, Speaking Tiger, saying that he didn’t believe Dasgupta had the “intellectual wherewithal or the personal integrity to be part of the discussion”. He further wrote that if the publishers were going to go ahead with the invitation to Dasgupta, he’d like to have his essay removed from subsequent editions of the book.

Friday morning, hence, was sorted for our Twitterati. And no, you don’t get free passes to the event for guessing who got more support:

https://twitter.com/IndiaSpeaksPR/status/619386912353026049

Speaking to Newslaundry, Bal said, “It’s simple; I don’t want any of my writings to be marketed by someone who’s almost a spokesperson for the dispensation,” he said. According to Bal, it’s a personal prerogative and not a freedom of expression issue. “I’ll debate them on any other platform, but this is a marketing event – and I don’t want Dasgupta to help sell a book I’m part of,” he stated. Bal said he wasn’t even consulted before roping in Dasgupta.

The publishers, however, have a slightly different story to tell. Explaining the sequence of events, Ravi Singh of Speaking Tiger said Nayantara Sahgal, who is the editor of the anthology, was consulted.

“All the contributors to the anthology were informed of the decision well before the invitation cards were printed. Hartosh Bal was informed by email on June 23. He expressed his unhappiness and informed us that he would give the launch a miss. We explained to him the reason for our choice of panelists at the launch. He did not say anything about withdrawing his essay at that point. He did so only yesterday,” said Singh.

The anthology in question is called “Nehru’s India: Essays on the Maker of a Nation”. According to Renuka Chatterjee, Consulting Editor, Speaking Tiger, “the main thrust of the book is that Nehru’s legacy, and his contribution to the making of India as a secular, democratic country, is not only as relevant today as it was earlier, but endures in the face of the recent spate of criticism and the attempts by his detractors to deny or denigrate it.”

So, was Dasgupta supposed to play the role of the “detractor” in the promotional event? Chatterjee informed us that the format of the event was a debate on the issue (of Nehru’s continuing relevance and contribution to the nation). “A debate cannot be one-sided. Therefore, along with Mrs Sahgal, we have invited Swapan Dasgupta to be part of the discussion. This format has been discussed and agreed upon with those concerned.”

Okay, so who’s winning this duel? Chatterjee maintained that the invitation to Swapan would not be withdrawn. Does that mean Bal’s essay will no longer be part of the anthology? “Regarding Hartosh’s request to withdraw his essay – as he himself has said in his communication with us, the book has already been printed, as far as future editions go, we will respect his views at the time,” said Chatterjee.

We sent a questionnaire to Dasgupta, asking what he thought about Bal’s claims about his journalistic integrity being compromised as a result of accepting a government-offered position. Dasgupta didn’t respond. In fact, he’s been completely quiet on the subject, except from tweeting a screenshot of a newspaper clipping that carried Bal’s email, to his wife, Reshmi Dasgupta. We are hoping to catch up with him on the day of the event and extract an answer, while sharing cookies and tea at 4 pm in a prohpaah cup and saucer.